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BILL LANKHOF, QMI Agency

TORONTO - This may be Cory Boyd’s first season in the CFL but he’s making huge impressions — and there are defensive players everywhere wearing the bruises to prove it.

Boyd is not only in position to win the league rushing title this weekend, yesterday he was named the CFL’s toughest player in a TSN league-wide poll.

“I don’t see it myself. I think I’m a big mushy bear,” said Boyd.

He has been taking his share of ribbing from coaches and teammates as the weigh scales have climbed to 230 pounds in a season during which injuries and Big Macs have taken a toll.

“Everyone has been on me because I’ve been gaining weight. Usually I’m 218 so everyone thinks I’m getting big. But actually I think it’s helped me, especially being the type of player I am. Being so physical maybe I need a few extra pounds to endure that.”

The diet, he admits, too often comes through a take-out window. “I’m not eating right. I don’t have someone to cook me a nice meal. McDonalds and Applebys are my best friends,” he said, laughing, “along with Ho Hos and snacky cakes.”

That kind of fine dining would leave anyone surly and Boyd has quickly earned a reputation for greeting tacklers in a bad mood. He leads the league with 1,359 yards.

Toughness is most often associated with defence. “But he’s special,” said head coach Jim Barker. “He plays offence the way most coaches want their defences to play. He’s very aggressive. He attacks. Defensive players know that playing him you’ve got a load.”

Boyd will run through a defender as soon as run around him. “There’s a lot of tough guys in this league,” said Barker. “For Cory to win that his first year in the league that’s a huge amount of respect he has gotten from guys.”

Boyd has come back from multiple concussions and has also played through various other injuries. “That’s what toughness is; fighting through adversity no matter if its your body, your mind or your spirit,” he said. “It’s about sticking it out when some guys might want to pack it up and go home.”

Almost half the league’s players (218) participated in the TSN poll. Hamilton’s Kevin Glenn was named as the CFL’s most under-rated player. Chad Owens was named the biggest threat to score from anywhere on the field by 43.7% of voters. Argos’ offensive lineman Rob Murphy was named the nastiest player.

“I’m proud of Murphy that he got the vote for nastiest player because he hasn’t got one 15-yard penalty. That speaks volumes,” said Barker, who spent much of the early season preaching discipline to a team that led the CFL in penalties in both 2008 and 2009. “Often players equate nastiness to taking stupid 15-yard penalties. It speaks volumes of how he plays the game.”